Vehicle door-handle



J. G. KAEFER.

VEHICLE DOOR HANDLE.

APPLICATION man JULY 8.1920.

1,397,426. Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

JOHN G. KAEFER, 0F NGRWOOD, OHIO, ASSIGIN'OR TO THE CINCINNATI ALUMINUM uric.

' CASTING COMPANY, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

VEHICLE DOOR-HANDLE.

1,3QTYA'26.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15,1921.

Application filed July 8, 1920. Serial No. 394,680.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. KAEFER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Norwood, in the county of Hamilton and State of @hio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Door- Handles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the drawing forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to door handles for vehicles in which a handle, escutcheon plate, and latch operating bar are assembled in such a way as to be rattle proof.

In methods employed in the past for assembling and mounting door handles into the door of automobiles in particular, the means adopted for mounting has been essentially to provide a spring washer set into a channel formed around the shaft of the handle, and to take up the intervening space between the washer and the escutcheon plate by means of small washers or shims.

The experience of all manufacturers has been, however, that the channel cannot always be accurately located within a fraction of an inch in commercial practice, and that any give or spring in the parts which hold the handle against withdrawal through the escutcheon plate, will develop into a rattle as soon as the handle is put in use.

As a matter of fact such rattles often develop before use and the automobile manufacturer rejects such handles. A regular practice of testing out handles for rattles has developed in the art, which has been made an absolute requisite before such articles are accepted by the manufacturer.

It is the object of my invention to provide a structure and combination of parts which when assembled will always be tight, and in which there are no parts to become loose, and in which uniting of the retaining or abutment ring with the handle shaft is done simultaneously with the formation of the means that retains it in place.

These objects and other advantages to be noted I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the handle and lock operating bar and escutcheon plate assembled.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the said device with the central portions thereof in central longitudinal section.

The handle comprises any sort of hand piece as, for example, a cross bar 1, to which is united or which is unitary with the handle shaft 2.

Some sort of shoulder 3 is formed on the handle shaft, and this shoulder, when the parts are assembled engages the escutcheon plate 4, which may be of any desired design, and which fits snugly over the inner end 5 of the handle shaft.

The handle shaft, particularly at the innor end, is of soft metal such as brass, and set into or cast into the inner end of the shaft is the lock operating bar 6. The mounting of the escutcheon plate may be made snug enough to just permit rotation of the handle shaft therein, which not a diflicult manufacturing operation, and as is readily apparent the lock operating bar will have no chance whatever of developing a rattle.

After the escutcheon plate is mounted, a ring or sleeve 7 of soft metal is set over the inner end of the handle shaft and held snugly up against the escutcheon plate, thereby forcing the escutcheon plate firmly up against the shoulder on the handle shaft. Thereupon a suitable punching die is brought into play to punch inwardly or indent the retaining ring 7, the operation being extended enough to indent the soft metal of the handle shaft also.

There will be formed in this manner preferably four indentations 8, which will permanently unite the retaining ring and the shaft handle and which will result in a close abutment of the said ring against the escutcheon plate and the plate against the shoulder on the handle shaft.

From the point of view of commercial success I have manufactured vehicle door han' dles according to the above specification in large quantities, and have had no rejections upon the rattle test.

The above description is merely an illustrative one to enable me to point out the features of my invention and is of the type furnished for the Ford automobiles at present manufactured at -Detroit, Michigan, and elsewhere in the United States. The description should not be taken as a disclosure of the only possible mechanism by which it is capable of enjoying the benefits of my invention. a J y Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a handle shaft, an abutment thereon, an escutcheon plate engaging against said abutment, and a metallic member set over the shaft on the other side of the plate from the abutment, and adapted to be set firmly against the said plate and united to the shaft by metallic indentation.

- 2. In a device of the character described, the combination With a handle shaft having a soft metal end, an escutcheon plate mounted on said handle shaft, means on the shaft for preventing movement in one direction of the escutcheon plate, and a metal ring of soft metal adapted to be set over the end of the shaft and pushed into close abutment against the escutcheon plate and held in place by indentations of the metal of the ring and the shaft end.

3. A method of forming vehicle door handles comprising the forming of a handle shaft, having. an abutment for an escutcheon plate, the setting of an escutcheon plate over the handle shaft and against said abutment, the loosely mounting of a sleeve member over the shaft and bringing it tightly against the plate, While the plate is against the abutment, and the indenting of the metal of the sleeve and the handle shaft While the parts are in such position. V

4. That method of retaining a vehicle door handle shaft on, an escutcheon plate Without rattling which consists in loosely mounting a metal sleeve over the handle shaft bring ing it into close abutment with the escutcheon plate and indenting the metal of the sleeve and the handle to hold the said sleeve in such position of abutment.

JOHN G. KAEFER 

